Question 1

Identify the error in the following sentence:
She (A) has been working / (B) in this office / (C) since / (D) five years. / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (D). The phrase 'since five years' is incorrect. 'Since' is used with a point in time (e.g., 'since 2019', 'since Monday'), not with a duration. The correct form should be 'for five years'. The sentence should read: 'She has been working in this office for five years.'

Question 2

Identify the error in the following sentence:
She (A) have been working (B) at this company (C) for the last five years. (D) No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part B. The subject 'She' is singular and requires the singular auxiliary verb 'has', not the plural 'have'. The correct form is 'has been working'. Present perfect continuous requires 'has/have + been + V-ing', and the auxiliary must agree with the subject in number.

Question 3

Identify the error in the following sentence:
The manager (A) has instructed / (B) all employees / (C) that they should / (D) come early tomorrow. / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (D). The phrase 'come early tomorrow' is inconsistent with the tense structure. When 'has instructed' (present perfect) is used with a 'that' clause, the reported speech should maintain consistency. However, 'come early tomorrow' is acceptable in reported speech. Re-examining: the sentence is actually correct. 'Has instructed' is present perfect, and the instruction refers to a future action ('come early tomorrow'), which is grammatically acceptable. The answer is 'No error'.

Question 4

Identify the error in the following sentence:
The manager (A) has instructed the team members (B) that they should submit their reports (C) by tomorrow morning. (D) No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct. All parts maintain proper tense consistency and subject-verb agreement. 'Has instructed' (present perfect) is appropriate for a recent action with present relevance, and the subordinate clause correctly uses 'should submit' to express obligation. No error exists.

Question 5

Identify the error in the following sentence:
The students (A) has completed (B) their assignments (C) before the deadline yesterday. (D) No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part B. The subject 'The students' is plural and requires the plural auxiliary verb 'have', not the singular 'has'. The correct form is 'have completed'. Additionally, the use of present perfect with 'yesterday' is questionable; simple past would be more appropriate. However, the primary grammatical error is the subject-verb agreement: 'have completed' is correct.

Question 6

Identify the error in the following sentence:
By the time (A) the project is completed, / (B) we will have spent / (C) more than a million rupees / (D) on research and development. / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (A). The phrase 'the project is completed' uses simple present tense, but it should use simple present passive voice 'is being completed' or maintain the simple present 'is completed' which is actually acceptable in time clauses. Re-examining: 'By the time the project is completed' is correct. The simple present passive 'is completed' is appropriate in a time clause. The sentence is grammatically correct. The answer is 'No error'.

Question 7

Choose the correct tense form to fill in the blank: By the time the ambulance ______, the patient had already lost consciousness.

Accepted Answer

The sentence uses the Past Perfect tense ('had already lost') to describe an action completed before another past action. The clause 'By the time' introduces a reference point in the past, and the verb in that clause must use Simple Past tense ('arrived'). Using 'had arrived' would create an incorrect double Past Perfect construction. The rule is: in 'By the time + clause', the clause verb takes Simple Past, while the main clause uses Past Perfect.

Question 8

Identify the error in the following sentence:
By the time the project (A) will be completed, (B) the team will have (C) worked for eight months. (D) No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part B. In a time clause introduced by 'by the time', the verb should be in simple present tense, not future tense. The correct form is 'By the time the project is completed, the team will have worked for eight months.' The time clause requires simple present even though it refers to a future event.

Question 9

Identify the error in the following sentence:
She (A) has been studying / (B) medicine / (C) for the last / (D) three years and will continue. / No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (D). The phrase 'for the last three years' is redundant and awkward. The correct form should be either 'for the last three years' (which is actually acceptable) or 'for three years'. Re-examining: 'for the last three years' is a standard and correct phrase. The sentence is grammatically correct. The answer is 'No error'.

Question 10

Identify the error in the following sentence:
The students (A) have completed / (B) their project work / (C) three weeks ago. / (D) No error

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). The phrase 'three weeks ago' is incompatible with present perfect tense. 'Three weeks ago' is a specific past time reference that requires simple past tense, not present perfect. Present perfect is used with time expressions like 'recently', 'just', 'already', or 'since', which do not specify an exact point in time. The correct sentence should be: 'The students completed their project work three weeks ago.' OR 'The students have completed their project work recently.'

Question 11

Identify the error in the following sentence:
By the time (A) the guests arrive, / (B) we will have prepared / (C) all the refreshments. / (D) No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct. 'By the time' is a time clause that triggers future perfect tense in the main clause. 'Will have prepared' (future perfect) correctly shows that the preparation will be completed before the guests arrive. The structure 'By the time + present tense (arrive) + future perfect (will have prepared)' is the standard construction. No error exists.

Question 12

Identify the error in the following sentence:
When he (A) arrived at the station, / (B) the train has already / (C) left for Mumbai. / (D) No error

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (B). The sentence uses inconsistent tenses. 'Arrived' (simple past) in part (A) indicates a specific point in the past. In part (B), 'has already' (present perfect) is incorrect because it doesn't match the past time reference. The correct form should be 'had already' (past perfect), which shows that the train's departure happened before his arrival. Correct sentence: 'When he arrived at the station, the train had already left for Mumbai.'

Question 13

Identify the error in the following sentence:
She (A) has been working / (B) in this company / (C) since five years / (D) No error

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (C). The phrase 'since five years' is incorrect. When using 'since' with a duration, the correct form is 'for five years'. The rule is: 'since' is used with a point in time (e.g., 'since 2019', 'since Monday'), while 'for' is used with a duration (e.g., 'for five years', 'for two months'). The correct sentence should be: 'She has been working in this company for five years.'

Question 14

Identify the error in the following sentence:
The manager (A) has instructed / (B) all employees to submit / (C) their reports by tomorrow / (D) No error

Accepted Answer

The sentence is grammatically correct. 'Has instructed' (present perfect) is appropriate because the instruction was given in the recent past and remains relevant. 'All employees' (plural) correctly agrees with 'submit' (base form after 'to'). 'By tomorrow' is a correct time expression for a future deadline. No error exists.

Question 15

Identify the error in the sentence:
When I reached (A) the office, my boss has already left (B) for the meeting (C) that was scheduled (D) an hour ago. No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (B). The sentence uses simple past 'reached' in the first clause, so the second clause should also use past perfect 'had already left', not present perfect 'has already left'.

Question 16

Identify the error in the sentence:
By the time the train arrives (A), we will have waited (B) at the station (C) for two hours (D). No error (E)

Accepted Answer

There is no error in this sentence. The future perfect tense 'will have waited' is correctly used with 'by the time' to show an action that will be completed before another future action.

Question 17

Identify the error in the sentence:
The students have submitted (A) their assignments yesterday (B), and the teacher is reviewing (C) them now (D). No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (A). The sentence uses present perfect 'have submitted' with 'yesterday', which is a specific past time. Simple past 'submitted' should be used instead, as present perfect is incompatible with definite past time expressions.

Question 18

Identify the error in the sentence:
The committee (A) have decided (B) that the new policy will be (C) implemented next month (D). No error (E)

Accepted Answer

The error is in part (B). 'Committee' is a collective noun that takes a singular verb in Indian English. The correct form should be 'has decided' not 'have decided'.

Question 19

The scientist (A) has been conducting / (B) has conducted / (C) is conducting / (D) conducted the experiment for the last five years and (E) has discovered / (F) discovers / (G) is discovering / (H) discovered several important findings. Which pair of tenses is correct?

Accepted Answer

The correct answer is (A) 'has been conducting' and (E) 'has discovered'. The phrase 'for the last five years' indicates an action that started in the past and continues to the present, which requires present perfect continuous (has been + V-ing). This tense emphasizes the duration and ongoing nature of the action. The second clause uses 'and' to connect a related action, so 'has discovered' (present perfect) is appropriate because it shows a completed action with present relevance (the findings are relevant now). Option (B) 'has conducted' uses present perfect simple, which doesn't emphasize the duration as strongly as present perfect continuous. Option (C) 'is conducting' uses present continuous, which doesn't indicate the five-year duration. Option (D) 'conducted' uses simple past, which breaks the connection to the present. In the second clause, (F) 'discovers' uses simple present, which is inappropriate for a completed action. Option (G) 'is discovering' uses present continuous, which suggests an ongoing process rather than completed findings. Option (H) 'discovered' uses simple past, which is incorrect because it doesn't show the relevance of the findings to the present.

Question 20

The manager (A) said that he / (B) says that he / (C) has said that he / (D) is saying that he would review the proposal by Friday. No error

Accepted Answer

The correct answer is (A) 'said that he'. This sentence requires the past tense 'said' in the reporting clause because the reported speech refers to a future action from a past perspective. The reported clause uses 'would review' (conditional past), which is the correct backshift of 'will review' when reported in past tense. Option (B) uses simple present 'says', which breaks the rule of tense consistency in reported speech—if the reporting verb is past, the reported verb must also shift to past. Option (C) uses present perfect 'has said', which is incorrect because it doesn't establish a clear past moment for the reported speech. Option (D) uses present continuous 'is saying', which is inappropriate for reported speech and doesn't match the past tense requirement.

NIACL AO Tenses

Tenses— Rules & Concept

Key Points to Remember

Exam-Specific Tips

Tenses — Practice Questions

60-Second Revision — Tenses